Nicola Albascente
World War I Veteran
By Camille Arbogast
Nicola Albascente, also known as Nick or Nicholas, was born in Manhattan, New York, to Maria (Bella) and Pietro Albascente. On official documents, he reported his birthdate as August 24, 1893, though his birth record stated he was born on August 26. He had at least two siblings: Catherine born in 1879, and John in 1881. His older siblings were born in Armento, Potenza, Basilicata, Italy, and immigrated to the United States in 1885. Members of the family used differing spellings of their last name, including Albacento and Albascenti.
Not much is known about Nick’s childhood. He attended school through the first grade, according to the 1940 census. In 1911, a Nicolo Albascente sailed on the White Star Line’s S.S. Romanic, embarking at Naples, Italy, and arriving in Boston on November 22. By the early 1900s, Nick’s brother and sister were living in Boston’s South End. John lived at 29 Seneca Street; Catherine, her husband, Joseph Angerami, and their children lived nearby on Oswego Street. (Today the neighborhood is the location of the Ink Block development.) In 1912, Catherine died of valvular heart disease, which she had suffered from for four years.
In June 1917, Nick was living at 5 Oneida Street with Catherine’s daughter Antonetta, known as Nellie, and her husband Joseph Ierardi. Nick was a harness maker with James Forgie, 17 Merchants Row, Boston. When he was inducted into the Army a little over a year later, on September 6, 1918, Nick gave his address as 15-A Norwell Street, Dorchester, and named Joseph Ierardi as his next of kin.
Nick initially served as private in the 105th Company, 26th Battalion, at Camp Syracuse in New York. On October 21, he was transferred to the Salvage Company, Quartermaster Corps, at Camp Devens, in Ayer, Massachusetts. He remained at Camp Devens for the remainder of his service. According to his entry in the Veterans Administration Master Index, Nick served as a cook in the 2nd Detachment Demobilization Group. He was discharged on July 12, 1919.
Nick returned to the South End and in 1920 was living with the Ierardis at 85 Seneca Street. He worked as a boot black at a street stand. By 1922, Nick and the Ierardis had moved a short distance to an apartment on the third floor of 17 Oswego Street, where Nick ran a variety store in the basement of the building. Two years later he had a new job, employed as a “chief engineer” in the Publicity Building at 44 Bromfield Street in Boston. He remained at this occupation for the next 15 years. On the 1930 census his profession was described as “janitor, apartment.” Nick moved a few blocks to 11 Waltham Street in 1925. He relocated to Dorchester in 1927, residing at 257 Washington Street, where he lived with another branch of the Ierardi family. He moved to 267 Washington Street in 1933.
In the early 1940s, Nick ran a grocery at 251 Washington Street and lived at number 255 with his relatives, the Morottos. In 1942, he was working at the Watertown Arsenal where he was employed through 1945. In the 1950s, he was listed in the Boston directory as a laborer with the U.S. Public Building Service and General Services Administration. He had retired by the mid-1960s. In the 1970s, he moved to Dedham, Massachusetts.
Nick died on April 29, 1977. His funeral was held at Saint Mary of the Assumption Church in Dedham and he was buried in Saint Joseph Cemetery in West Roxbury.
Sources
“New York, New York City Births, 1846-1909,” database, citing Manhattan, New York Municipal Archives, New York; Family Search.org
“Morning Death Notices,” Boston Globe, 14 February 1967: 32; Newspapers.com
Naturalization Records. National Archives at Boston, Waltham, MA; Ancestry.com
Book Indexes to Boston Passenger Lists, 1899-1940. Microfilm, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Ancestry.com
Massachusetts Vital Records, 1911–1915. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA; Ancestry.com
World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Military, Compiled Service Records. World War I. Carded Records. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.
Veterans Administration Master Index, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773 – 2007. National Archives at St. Louis, MI; Ancestry.com
1920, 1930, 1940 U.S. Federal Census; Ancestry.com
“Street Gas Perils Score in Apartment,” Boston Globe, 25 December 1922: 4
Boston directories, various years; Ancestry.com
United States Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
“Deaths,” Boston Globe, 30 April 1977: 25; Ancestry.com